As a registered patent attorney, Kelly Horn combines her extensive knowledge of Patent Office practice with her experience as a patent litigator to help clients build, assert, and defend strategic portfolios of utility and design patents.
Kelly began her patent counseling practice as a technical advisor after finishing her graduate engineering studies. She continued helping clients with patent prosecution, non-infringement and invalidity analyses, written opinions, and pre-litigation diligence as a patent agent upon registration before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She maintains an active patent prosecution and counseling practice, assisting clients with building strategic portfolios of utility and design patents worldwide.
Kelly draws on her experience before the USPTO to help clients assert and defend patent infringement claims before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. district courts. Her technical experience spans a broad range of technologies, including medical imaging, biosurgical products, welding systems, control systems, automotive systems, power production systems, blockchain technology, and communications systems.
Kelly also represents clients on a pro bono basis before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the Social Security Administration (SSA). She has drafted successful appellate briefs on behalf of military veterans and represented disabled Americans in proceedings before the SSA.
Prior to entering the legal field, Kelly performed undergraduate research in the field of bioinformatics on the classification and selection of maximally informative genes from a microarray dataset of temporal gene expression. As part of her senior design team, she designed and built a novel proof-of-concept 3D maxillofacial imaging system, which was recognized with the Creativity in Engineering Design Award from an industrial engineering panel. She also worked for Johnson & Johnson in its medical device division, performing research on the stress relaxation and fatigue properties of polypropylene mesh and the biomechanical properties of calf pericardium.
Kelly’s graduate thesis was directed to the engineering of magnetic viral nano heaters for the targeted hyperthermic treatment of cancer. She also assisted with the development of a new module for an undergraduate bioprocessing laboratory course.
